Frozen Inside (A Kakashi Hatake Love Story)
by SilverMoonTitania
Summary: Sora Yuki is a name that strikes fear in the hearts of many. She is a rogue ninja. A trained assassin. From a young age she learned that keeping a strong sense of who you are is the only way to survive in this corrupt world, but when a certain silver-haired ninja tracks her down, she begins, for the first time in years, to doubt herself. Kakashi x OC
1. Prologue

~Prologue

_Author's note* _

_Hi! This is my first story ever so please give feedback!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. However, any additional characters like Sora and Ren are mine._

_Name: Sora Yuki_

_Age: 16_

Note: Story is set before the plot of Naruto. Kakashi is about 16-17 as well.

_Background Info: She was from the same clan as Haku except her family had grouped together with others to form an actual clan instead of hiding their Kekkei Genkei and marrying like Haku's did._

_Prologue_

_It was winter, my favourite time of the year. Snowflakes were gently falling, embedding themselves in my field of vision. They stubbornly clung to my eyelashes no matter how hard I tried to blink them away. As usual, I was training with my brother Ren. If I wanted to survive, I had to train. _

_"Ren, can we take a break and make snow angels?" I asked after a half an hour of training._

_He sighed, then smiled." Okay, fine. But first, let's go back and see if Mom's finished making hot chocolate."_

_I grinned widely and jumped up in excitement. "After can we take Hikari outside and make snow angels? Please?_

_His smile was filled with patience. Sometimes he looks so much older than fifteen._

_"Come on Sora. Let'-" He was cut off by a scream that sent shivers down my small spine._

_Something about Ren snapped and within moments I was carefully thrown across his shoulder, flying from tree to tree with the village already in sight. He stopped so abruptly that I nearly lost my grip on his shirt. I was about to ask him why he had stopped when I noticed the tree behind us. _It was covered with blood.

_Ren slowly set me down on the tree branch and whispered hoarsely in my ear, fear seeping from his voice. "Stay here and hide in the leaves Sora.'' And then he was gone._

_Of course I didn't stay. I was only an eight year old who was frightened and missing her parents. Sometimes my brother did the stupidest things even though he was supposed to be a genius._

_Cautiously, I slipped down from the branch, my knees nearly giving out as my feet hit the ground. The buildings around me were either in ruin or lit on fire, but there wasn't a single person around. Ren had took off in the direction of the town square, so I assumed that was where the surviving people were. '__Surviving__.' I thought with a shiver. I wasn't as naïve as my parents would like to think. I knew that we were being attacked and why. I also knew that the villagers didn't stand a chance._

_I contemplated whether or not I should stay put. Venturing closer to danger was suicidal at best and I was old enough to understand that, at least, but the horrible, eerie silence was scaring me. The village was never quiet, ever. Silence, as if it had material form, was enveloping me, causing me to hyperventilate, and making everything feel painfully tense. I needed to know what was happening. I needed to know if my parents and Hikari were okay and if Ren was injured or not. I would die if I stood here waiting. The silence would kill me. _

_Taking a deep, quivering breath I set off in the direction that my brother had gone. There weren't that many people living in our village, but the buildings were spread far apart. It took a while for me to near the center of town and when I did, I looked up and gasped._

_Stapled to the trees with kunai and throwing stars were my grandfather Kenji, who was the village elder, and my uncle. Their arms and legs were fastened to the wood with knives, blood staining their torn clothing. They hung there as if they were a gruesome, sadistic warning at the entrance to the marketplace. Beyond them, traces of pandemonium engulfed the marketplace. Tarps were set on fire, blood stained the walls and glassy eyed bodies littered the floor. Still there was no sound. Panic and tears rose up and threatened to consume me. I had known each and every one of the people that laid murdered at my feet. I sank to the floor. At eight years old my mind could not fully comprehend what had happened and I was left with a painful, gnawing feeling in my chest and head. _

_Suddenly, the sound of boots on the dirt floor broke through the silence. I looked up. A masked ninja stared back at me, then grinned, raising a bloodied long-sword. Cold comprehension dawned on me. Taking a strangled breath, I stood to face one of the murderers of my people. I didn't understand what I was doing. I had no powers or skills with weapons that I could defend myself with. Still, my body moved into autopilot and I slip into the stance that Ren had showed my countless times. I almost laughed at myself. What was I doing? I had never used my Kekkei Genkai successfully. Still, I methodically went through the hand signs. I knew better than to run so I guess my body took to the one thing I had been training to do. _

_Needless to say, I was surprised when frost started to encase the ninja until he was nothing more than a statue with a surprised expression on its face. After that initial moment of shock, a flood of grim satisfaction filled me. The man deserved to die after killing so many of my kin for no other reason than the very fact that they were alive. He deserved to die, and so did the others. _

_Since the awakening of my Kekkei Genkai, all my senses sharpened. I could hear the faint sound of metal on metal coming from the square. I ran, passing more dead bodies and stray ninjas which I finished off quickly because of the element of surprise. They didn't expect a small child to be able to do anything. The attackers, whomever they were, chose the right day to commit genocide. There was a festival today and the majority of the villagers were gathered in the village square. Hence the piles of corpses I saw when I reached it. I saw Ren taking the attacks out by the dozen with his ice techniques. I opted to join him. At first Ren looked about in confusion when a ninja beside him froze all by himself, but when he spotted me, his face flashed from surprise to a bitter, knowing sadness. Together we made quick work of the enemy ninja, but it was too late. Those ninjas had obviously been professionals, and the clan had been mostly wiped out before even Ren had gotten here. Despite the fearsome ability we all possessed, the people of my clan were no match for the ninja assassins. My family was the only one that trained and utilized our Kekkei Genkai. _

_I headed numbly towards our family's house, but Ren shook him head sadly. I took a sharp intake of breath as he nodded his head to the dead bodies of my parents. Hikari though, had survived the attack. He had come stumbling out of nowhere when he saw that all the men were defeated. With the eminent fear and shock gone and the need for revenge draining out of my body, I broke down and cried. I felt Ren's arms around me as I sobbed against his shoulder. He didn't cry though. Only patiently hugging me until my tears dried up. _

_How had this happened? My parents were stronger than even Ren. They were the protectors of the village. We were the head family and the ones responsible for the safety of the village. All the children in line trained vigorously from a young age to master their Kekkei Genkai and learn the techniques of the ancient scroll. How could they have fallen to enemies that even I could defeat?_

_I turned to Ren. "How could Mother and Father lose against… against them?"_

_He stood up, his features suddenly stern, and motioned for me to move to one of the dead attackers. "Look closely Sora. Do you recognise this man?"_

_I squinted to get a better look, then inhaled sharply. It was Rogu Takumi, a trusted trading partner of our village for ten years. I had often caught glimpses of him laughing and joking with my parents the way old friends did. He was even there for my seventh birthday, and had given me a pretty necklace as a gift._

_Ren's face was grim with hatred. "All this time, he was waiting, getting to know us and our abilities. Our parents trusted him, believed him to be a close friend. They let their guard down and he stabbed them in the back without hesitation. This is what happens in the real world, understand? Mother and Father grew too soft, trusted too easily. We must never allow that to happen to us."_

_He spoke to me softly afterwards, asking me to collect whatever valuable possessions I would fit in a pack from our house while he went to look for any survivors. I nodded and walked up the stairs to grab the biggest pack I could find. I threw a few changes of clothes for each of us, all the money that we possessed, My mother's jewelry box and the sacred scrolls my father kept hidden under the floorboards in the pack, slung it over my boney shoulders and grabbed my father's sword. Coming out of the front door, I spotted a boy, younger than even Ren, dressed in the same clothing as the attackers. He trembled at the sight of me, his blue eyes fearful, and scrambled, trying to get away. I don't know why, but I didn't feel the rush of hate and desire for revenge that I did when the rest of them. I knew I should feel it, but I didn't. I heard the barely detectable footsteps that were unmistakeably Ren's in the distance. I couldn't bear the thought of hurting any more people, so I mouthed the words 'run away' to the boy then walked away from him. I don't know why I couldn't bring myself hurt him, but it would turn out to be the worst mistake I ever made._


	2. 1) The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

~1~The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep

Sora's P.O.V.

I opened my eyes to the feel of light on my eyes and the sound of birds. It was dawn, the start of a new day. I sighed. I was supposed to meet a client today, but I doubt that he was going to offer me a decent job. I didn't want to depend on Ren anymore. I wasn't a ten year old, I was a full-fledged ninja who was capable of taking care of herself. My brother was very understanding of my independent streak, allowing me to do whatever I wanted and not forcing me to join the Akatsuki like he did.

I jump down from the tree I had been sleeping in and headed towards a nearby village to buy some breakfast.

The sound of children's laughter was evident even before the village was in sight. The sound instantly sends an icy dagger through my heart. It has been nearly seven years since we left Hikari at an obscure village, and still, every child I saw made me miss him. I wanted nothing more than to visit him, but I know better. The less he knows about his heritage, the less he is linked to me, the safer he is.

I visited the Taiyaki stand close to the gate. I ordered a red bean flavored taiyaki and the old lady serving me gave me a kind smile. In most villages I visited, the people were scared of me. I was dressed in ninja gear after all and had a dangerous feel about me. This village must be used to ninjas passing through though, because I have yet to receive suspicious glances. I took a moment to indulge in my sweet treat. Often travelling for days at a time through forests, I have to live off of meat and nutrition pills most of the time and rarely get to taste anything sweet other than wild berries.

After finishing my breakfast, I decided to do some training in the forest. I really should be meeting my client, but I was in no hurry and besides, I doubted he was going to offer me a job that I would take. Setting to work, I started to perfect the technique that I had yet to master from the scrolls. Ren had the scrolls in his possession, but I had long since memorized every word written on it. Taking a deep breath, I focused my chakra into the soles of my feet and felt it pour into the ground beneath me.

Hours later, I sighed contently. It was a difficult jutsu that took a lot of chakra, but I had made good progress today. I reluctantly started for my client's hideout. Even before I knocked, the doors slide open and two guards greeted me. "Because that's not creepy at all." I muttered under my breath.

The guards motioned for me to follow them and led me silently down a dozen identical looking hallways. I had come here twice before, and the place always made me nervous. Way too dark and built like a prison, there was too many places for enemies to hide, and only one way out. If Hiroshi decided he wanted me dead, I was at a very big disadvantage. The guards led me to a pair of doors that were obviously handmade and very expensive, then left as silently as they came. I knocked on the door softly. The doors opened inward and a drawling voice called out to greet me.

"Nice to see you again. Hiroshi smiled at me, sitting in his antique desk. It was not a pleasant smile. I scanned the room. Hiroshi didn't appear to be armed, but one could hid a lot behind a desk. There are no windows, and the wall is made of solid stone, not idea to punch through. There appeared to be a hidden door in the wall on my left.

"Likewise." I answered, my voice cold and sleek. "I do hope you have a job I can actually take this time."

He tossed a file to me."Histuga Ryo. I want you to assassinate him."

I quickly glanced through the standard profile then frowned. I gave him a cold stare." Why do you want him dead?"

"Let's just say he's getting in the way of my work." He answered.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. "You want me to assassinate him because he's getting in the way of your work?" I let my voice give off a hint of warning.

"I understand that you have," He said with disdain. "-morals, but please, this man is a criminal. Maybe not enough to get him in the bingo book, but he's wronged his fair share of people. Believe me."

"Do you really think I'm an idiot? If you're going to lie to me at least make it convincing." I glared at him, blue eyes stony and phlegmatic.

"I take that as a No then." He sighed. "I respect your wishes. Contact me anytime if you change your mind. I will have a guard escort you out."

He waved his hand and another silent guard materialized beside me and motioned for me to follow him out. I bit my lip as I ambled behind him. There was something tense about Hiroshi today. I had turned him down many times now and I knew more than he'd want me to already. I had an ominous feeling gnawing at the back of my mind.

Sure enough, as we reached an intersection where half a dozen almost identically dressed minions were walking by, every one of them snapped and attacked me. The guard beside me grabbed my arm to try and hold me down, but I simply let my Kekkei Genkai do its job. Frost spread rapidly from where he was touching me until he was encased in ice. Pulling out a kunai, I made quick work of the rest. They were hardly skilled. Chunin level at best. Sliding my weapon back in its pouch, I broke out in a run. I was confident that I could take whomever Hiroshi threw at me, but I had no desire for senseless battle.

I tried my best to navigate through the identical looking halls, but while I had a near photographic memory, I had just about the worst sense of direction known to man. A near mob of minions were forming behind me. I was fast, but that didn't exactly help when you kept running into dead ends. Eventually I was met by a sizeable group of minions. Not wanting to waste time as the group behind me was gaining on me, I made the necessary hand signs and blew frost from my mouth.

"Ice shell." I murmured. Frosty winds swirled around my victims, first their feet became ice, then their legs and so on until they were nothing more than pretty ice sculptures. Passing them, I realized that they had been guarding the exit. I breathed a sigh of relief. Being trapped in that labyrinth was making me claustrophobic. A volley of throwing stars and kunai followed me as I dove for freedom, but I paid no mind. Most were poorly aimed and the others were easily dodged. For all the power show that Hiroshi put on, his base was extremely easy to escape.

Kakashi P.O.V.

I sighed as I looked at my watch. Noon. I was already late. Not that I was ever on time, but I tried to be on time of the Hokage at least. Hopping from rooftop to rooftop, I let the wind tousle my hair. This would be my first mission as a regular Jonin.

I knocked on the door of the Hokage's office.

"Come in." he called.

"Sorry I'm late Hokage-sama. What mission do you have for me?"

"It's alright. I need you to go with Kurenai and Asuma to capture a rogue ninja we are in need of assistance from. Make it seem like she is our prisoner though. Be careful, this is an S rank mission." He replied, handing me a folder.

I skimmed through it quickly. "Ice Jutsu? Is it some kind of Kekkei Genkai?" I ask.

"Yes. Our best guess is that she is a survivor from the Yuki clan Massacre incident. Be careful. She's dangerous.

"So why do we need her anyways?"

"She is one of the only known active users of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai and is the only one who has not broken the Law. We have reason to believe that she is a direct descendant of the elder of the village that was massacred and therefore learned in the techniques of the ancient Koori Scrolls. We need her abilities for another S-rank mission. We'll get to that afterwards. For now, just gather your things and meet the other two at the gate. They are waiting for you."

"Yes Hokage-sama."

**There we go! First Chapter is up! Please give feedback and suggestions! Thanks for reading!**


	3. 2) But I Have Promises to Keep

___**2**____**But I Have Promises to Keep**_

Sora's P.O.V.

Jumping from tree to tree, I tried to get as far away from the hideout as possible. Knowing fickle underground organization leaders, I had probably made another lifelong enemy. I sensed more ninjas tailing me, which was bothersome, so I turned to face them. Might as well get it over with before I was tired from running. Besides, the sun was already setting and I wanted to get some sleep tonight.

I busied myself by making hand signs while I waited for them to catch up. As they came into view, it because obvious that the ninjas that were sent after me were not of the same level as the ones I had fought inside. They moved with a certain grace, a fluid confidence.

I braced myself and cast my jutsu right off the bat. I jumped up. "Ice storm!" Kunai made from chakra infused ice pelted them from all directions. A few got cut up a bit, but my attack was soon deflected with a well-chosen fire jutsu. I gritted my teeth. This was going to be a lot harder than I expected.

I wasted no time and I dove into the mess of steam before it cleared. I brought my leg back and kicked one of the ninja in the solar plexus, sending him barrelling through layer upon layer of trees. The ninja beside me was flying through hand signs in rapid progression, but I had no time to stop him, I had two ninjas on me from the side.

One wielding two Kanata came at me, using his weapon skillfully to both attack and to keep balance or change direction. Another bound my legs to the ground with an earth jutsu so that his partner could get a clear shot. The one with the broadsword leapt forward, swords gleaming wickedly and I ducked, but he sunk his one sword into the ground and swung around to deal a kick, which I barely blocked with my arm. I grabbed his leg and flung him across the clearing, only to be faced with a powerful fire jutsu that the fire ninja had been busy preparing. I scrambled to conjure an ice shield to block the attack. It was just my luck that they had someone specializing in fire ninjutsu. Regular fire jutsu could never melt my ice, but an attack of this severity was draining to defend against.

I watched helplessly as the earth ninja approached me with a sword. My feet were bound for the moment and I couldn't use my arms to defend myself unless I wanted break my shield and be torched. He swung his sword and I evaded as best I could. He caught my side and I clenched my teeth at the pain, but thankfully the fire jutsu let up before he could deal another blow. I quickly broke free from the binding jutsu and used ice shell on the earth ninja.

I turned to face the fire ninja. He was trembling, but he made no move to run, which was admirable. He started making hand signs again, and I quickly countered with my own. I needed to end this soon. I was in no condition for a prolonged battle. "Dragon tomb!" I called forth twin dragons carved from ice and they spiralled towards my enemy, attacking from either side. They wrapped themselves around him despite the ninja's moves of protest and tightened their grip, their razor sharp scales cutting into him until he stopped moving altogether.

Then I nearly doubled over in exhaustion. Swearing under my breath, I scolded myself for practising such draining techniques right before I walked right into the headquarters of an underground organization. Turning, I attempted at bandaging my wound. The sword had missed any major organs, but it was still painful. I had been using chakra to block out the pain, but exhaustion was getting to me. I needed to get medical attention soon. I decided to go through my options.

I couldn't go back to the village for medical attention, I had already stayed to long. There is always a chance that Hiroshi's spies are in the village. If I went back injured then that would put me at risk. Besides, the village is way too obvious. It would be the first place Hiroshi would look for me. He would undoubtedly send more ninjas after me, so couldn't exactly stay here and rest up. I was never properly trained in the healing arts so stopping the blood flow with chakra was the best I could do. The only logical choice would be to keep going through the forest. Even in my injured, exhausted state, I could out run the average ninja.

Kakashi P.O.V.

Before leaving, I visited the KIA stone. My first mission as a regular Jonin. Obito would have hated ANBU. Glancing at the time, I realized that I was late again. I was supposed to meet Kurenai and Asuma at one, and it was already three. Smiling slightly, I was drawn back to reminiscing again while walking to the gate as I remembered how Obito would often be very late for everything because he liked to help the elderly.

"You're two hours late!" screeched a very annoyed young woman with stunning red eyes as I reached the gate.

"So you're the famous Copy-cat Ninja huh? Not a great first impression." A man smoking a cigarette sighed. So this was Asuma, The Hokage's son.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I started ranting. "Well you see, on my way here, a black cat crossed my path so I had to-"

"Whatever. Let's just go. We've wasted enough time as it is." Asuma cut me off, sounding rather bored.

I took the time to observe the two. It was obvious from the way that they stood a little too close together that they were a couple. There was no doubt that I would end up feeling like the third wheel. Despite that though, this team was chosen wisely. I was the tracker, with my ninja dogs, and my Sharingan was the wild-card. From what I had heard, Kurenai was a genjutsu master, which would be ideal for a find and capture mission. Asuma was best for melee attacks and tai jutsu. Also he was a fire user, which would be good for the famous ice type user we were going to capture.

Summoning my ninja dogs, I gave Pakkun the scrap of fabric that was clipped to the folder. "Can you find her for me?" I asked him.

"Sure thing Boss." He replied, already sniffing the air.

"So we just follow him?" Kurenai asked as Pakkun took off, nosed barely leaving the ground.

I nodded. "So how do you think we should use as excuse to capture her? We are trying to pretend that we're trying to arrest her, right?" I asked.

Asuma nodded. "You have the folder, did she do anything that relates to Konaha or something that cause someone to call us for help?"

I scanned through the files and reports on her. There wasn't a lot to work with. A few known underground society run-ins and a known murder of a black market leader. She was pretty good at staying hidden. "The only things that we have records of are run-ins with black market organizations, and we can't say that we're working for them, can we?" I replied.

"Can we say that she's been accused of something?" Kurenai pondered.

I shook my head. "We're trying to get her to work for us, remember? If we falsely accuse her of something, she'll just be mad."

"We'll think of something when we get there okay?" Asuma said in a rather passive tone. "She won't have much of a choice if we capture her."

After a few hours, Pakkun stopped abruptly. "She's just behind the beyond the clearing." He said.

"Okay, thanks Pakkun." I replied, smiling. We were very lucky. Usually tracking took days.

"Oh, and uh, boss? There's something you should know..."

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

"She's injured. Probably pretty badly from the smell of it."

I grimaced inside. I hated attacking already injured people. Especially injured young girls who has done essentially nothing wrong, but a mission is a mission.

I grabbed my scroll, smeared blood across it, and then summoned the rest of my ninja dogs with Earth release: tracking fang technique. I nodded to Kurenai and Asuma. It was time for action.


	4. 3) And Miles To Go Before I Sleep

**~3~ And Miles To Go Before I Sleep**

**Author's Note: I've decided to try third person point of view for now. Tell me what you like best! Please give criticism, feedback and suggestions! I love talking to you guys! **

_**Sora**_

After another hour or so of running through the pain, Sora decided that she was far enough away, and that pushing herself more would be suicidal. Dragging herself up a tree, she collapsed with a sigh onto a sturdy branch. She removed her torn jacket to examine the wound, then grimaced. It wasn't very deep, a long cut up her side, but every time she moved too much, it opened the wound up and it was already an angry, inflamed shade of red around the edges. Sora pulled out some bandages from her hip pouch, promising to herself that the next time she saw Ren, she would force him to teach her medical nin-jutsu. She hastily tried her best to bandage herself, which wasn't the easiest thing in the world considering the fact that even the slightest twist in her torso sent a searing jolt of pain up her side. Gritting her teeth, she examined the handiwork.

"It isn't exactly medical-nin quality," She decided, "but it's sturdy and will have to do."

There was nothing else she could do for herself other than try to replenish her drained chakra deposit, so she let herself drift off into a fitful sleep.

After was felt like little more than an instant, Sora forced herself awake. She had long since trained herself to wake up in the middle of the night. She needed to keep moving and hopefully reach a village before dawn. It wasn't safe to travel injured in broad daylight. She stifled a groan as she attempted at a stretch and leapt off the tree. Her muscles were still sore and her side ached, but she felt better than before after her little power nap. She continued on at a moderate pace, sensing none of Hiroshi's ninja's in the area.

When she reached a clearing, she halted abruptly. Something was…off. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she could feel a slight tremor in the ground. '_Was someone coming this way?_' She inquired. It was most likely nothing at all, but brushing something off as nothing is a sure path to death in the ninja world. Opening up her senses, she stood there for a moment, simply observing. There _was_ something here. It was faint, barely detectable, but most certainly there. It was as if something was… burrowing underground!

A split second too late, Sora realized what was happening. She jumped up to dodge, but the first hound had already buried its teeth deep into the flesh of her leg. In a matter of seconds nine ninken were pinning her down at every limb and joint, immobilizing her almost completely. Sora winced as one dug its teeth into her side, fresh blood staining her bandage. She tried throwing them off, but they held firm and she did not want to risk further injury on what was obviously a pinning technique and she had no interest in killing the ninken if they were simply going to hold her there.

. She took the time to summon a broadsword in her hand, crafting it out of chakra infused ice as she could not move to reach her shuriken holster. Her eyes darted around in anticipation of the enemy. It was most likely not Hiroshi's men, since she had been on the lookout for their chakra signals and as far as she knew, the ninja he had sent after her the day before were the highest ranked ninja in his disposal. It wasn't long before she made out shapes approaching her in the distance. There weren't many; three or four perhaps. Making a hand sign with one hand, she sent out a blast of icy wind strong enough to throw the hounds off of her.

For a few moments, the enemies just stood there, as if to size her up. There were three ninjas in front of her. The first was a man with dark hair and the beginnings of a beard, looking like he was in his late teens or perhaps early twenties. He stood as if he were disinterested, a cigarette still in his mouth, but Sora could tell he was, in fact, observing her intently. From the looks of his build and height, Sora figured that if it came down to strength alone, she may be overwhelmed.

The second was a woman with piercing red eyes and hair almost as black as her own. Sora guessed her to be about the same age as the man with dark hair. She was looking back and forth between her and the man with dark hair and Sora herself. She was taller than Sora, but did not look as strong. Perhaps her strength lies in ninjutsu or genjutsu.

The last ninja looked a few years younger than the other two, closer to Sora's age. He had a shock of silver hair and a mask that covered half of his face. That itself was unnerving. Masks made it harder for people to be read. His headband covered his left eye. He was tall and lean, obviously built for agility and speed. They were all Ninjas from the Hidden Leaf village. Undoubtedly of Jonin rank as well from the powerful chakra signals they gave off. 'What business did the Hidden Leaf village have with me?' Sora raked her mind, but could come up with no valid reason as to why they would suddenly attack her.

The dark-haired man nodded to the others and Sora tensed. While the dark haired man charged at her, wielding what appeared to be trench knives infused with chakra. Suddenly, the ground beneath her appeared to liquefy, her first though was that one of the others had cast an earth release technique, but she quickly identified it as a genjutsu from the slight fuzz in her mind and dispelled it. There was no way she would fall for a genjutsu that easily. Ren had spent months painstakingly teaching her to recognise and dispell them. '_The mind is often the weakest part of a shinobi, and therefore most vulnerable_.' He would tell her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the silver-haired ninja pull his headband up, revealing a long scar down his left eye and a red iris with two spinning black tomoe around the pupil. '_Sharingan'_ Sora realized. She was knowledgeable enough to recognise the famous dōjutsu Kekkei Genkai of the Uchiha clan when she saw it. But why did he have one? Before she could observe him any further, the dark haired ninja was upon her. He thrust out with his trench knife and Sora moved to block. He was surprisingly fast, and each time their blades crossed, a jolt of pain was sent up her arm. She was suddenly very glad that she had summoned her broadsword instead of relying on kunai. She could not use her agility against him in her injured state and he was stronger that her. The only thing that she had to fall back on was the sheer amount of time she had trained with the broadsword. It was, after all, her weapon of choice.

The other two ninja did not interfere, most-likely seeing no need to, though Sora could feel the troubling gaze of the Sharingan fix on her, no doubt copying and predicting her every move. Sora was beginning to realize that these ninjas were in no hurry to dispose of her. She was tiring from lack of chakra and her wound was reopened and gushing blood. There had been many chances for the man to finish her off, but he didn't even attempt to take them. '_Why was he toying with me?_' Sora thought angrily. She was breathing hard. She wouldn't last very long regardless of whether or not the man decided to kill her.

Mustering up her strength, she broke free long enough to make a plethora of hand signs to one of her higher ranked techniques. To her surprise and annoyance, the silver haired ninja immediately began to copy her every move. When she released her jutsu, wind release: Wind Blade Storm, the boy fired back the same jutsu only a second later, cancelling Sora's out. Immediately she realized her mistake. The jutsu had not been based off of her Kekkei Genkai, therefore the Sharingan was capable of coping it.

She tried again, mourning the massive waste of chakra that had been her last attack. She wouldn't be able to dish out many more high calibre jutsus before she collapsed from chakra drain. She needed to make this next attack count. This time she, she used one of her old favourites. "Mountain Lion dance!" Ice particles swirled around in front of her until it was a violent tornado, slowly taking the form of an incorporeal mountain lion monster. The beast roared, spewing ice shards. Each swish of its tail caused a miniature blizzard of chakra infused ice. '_Take that on for size_.' Sora thought, containing a grin of satisfaction as the ninjas leapt to avoid its razor sharp claws.

_**Kakashi**_

A powerful blast of arctic wind bit into Kakashi's skin as his Ninken were throw clean off of their target. She only stood there, calmly observing them. Her hair was dark and glistening, black like the plummet of a raven's wing. It was scrapped up in a practical ponytail. Her eyes were a very pale, almost colorless blue, like ice shimmering under the sun. She was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt with a high, upturned collar that was laced with metal to protect the neck. On her arms and legs were armor attached to thick leather wrapping that left her shoulders and joints bare for mobility. She held a broadsword entirely made out of ice expertly in her hand. Everything about her screamed pragmatic, serious and deadly. Not exactly the injured young girl he was expecting.

She shifted her weight slightly and he noticed her stiffen. Her side was covered in blood. Okay, maybe she was an injured young girl, but she wasn't what he had been picturing in his mind. Asuma gave him the nod and they all shot forward to attack. Kurenai cast a genjutsu on her in hopes of distracting her, but the rogue ninja's eyes quickly snapped back into focus and dispelled the genjutsu with surprising speed. '_She's obviously very familiar with genjutsu_.' He noted.

He hung back while Asuma attacked head on. He uncovered his Sharingan and set to work observing the girl. She was experienced with the sword, that much was obvious, but Asuma was beginning to overwhelm her. Blood was starting to drip down her side and she looked visually exhausted. This wouldn't take long if they kept going like this. The girl seemed to realize this as well, because she broke away from Asuma and started to make hand signs. Kakashi leapt into action, coping her perfectly and unleashed the jutsu only a moment later. It was a high level jutsu. She had obviously planned on making it count.

The next attack though, wasn't as easily dealt with. She unleased an ice release jutsu in the form of an incorporeal beast made out of ice. Kakashi was forced to avoid the sweeping tail that sent a blizzard of ice shards his way. They ducked around the beast for a while until Asuma pulled a rather powerful fire release on it. The beast fought back with an icy blast, and it was not going down as fast as they'd hoped, but at least it was occupied. Kakashi took this opportunity and looked over at the girl. She was leaning slightly against the tree, looking exhausted from the jutsu. Quickly, he cast an earth release jutsu and before she even registered what was happening, she was halfway encased in a chakra draining earth prison. She struggled madly for a few seconds, but the drain was already showing its effects. It wasn't long before she collapsed entirely.

**The titles of this chapter and the ones before come from a poem by Robert Frost called Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. Thanks for reading and please criticize and give suggestions!**

**Note: ninken: ninja dogs**


	5. 4) Fire and Ice

~4~ Fire and Ice

Some people wake up not remembering, for a moment, where they were and what had happened. Sora had never been one of those people. She laid against what she assumed was the trunk of a tree, her defeat and capture vivid in her mind from the minute she came to. Her eyes were still closed, her breathing made to sound deep and even, as if she were still asleep. She was bound to the tree with a rather formidable binding jutsu. Deciding that trying to escape right away was not the best option, as it was obvious from the chatter that her captors were still awake and hovering, she tuned into the seemingly idle talk that the other ninjas were making, hoping to catch something useful.

"That was quite a binding technique you put on her. What's it called?" The voice was gruff and masculine. Judging from the quality of air, they were mostly-like still outside. The wafting scent of a campfire filled the air. Light came from her left, but not from up above. She felt dirt and roots beneath her. Judging from the amount of chakra she had replenished, she guessed that about a day has passed since she last held onto consciousness. Sora's brain buzzed, processing the overload of information that her senses brought to it while listening to their conversation. It was probable that it was night again, and a campfire seemed to have been lit to her left. The chatter also came from her left, her captors presumably gathering around the campfire for warmth.

"It's called Binding Smoke Prison." A nonchalant, matter-of-fact male voice answered. "I learned it from a Kirigakure ninja I was facing a few years back."

'_That information_,' Sora thought, her mind already racing to retrieve any information she had about Kirigakure binding techniques, "_will be useful_.'

"Well, let's go to sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." A feminine voice rang out. "Here, I'll put out the fire."

With a sizzle, the fire went out and Sora was drenched in darkness, apart from what she assumed was the full moon that should be out that night. There was some sound of ruffling for a bit, but them all was silent. Sora closely listened to all three breaths. Soon they were all deep, slow and even. Sora waited a bit more, just in case, then opened her eyes. Her assumptions had been correct. There were still in a forest and her captors were all sleeping to her left. The dark haired man and the woman slept by the dead campfire, huddling close together, while the silver haired boy slept with his back propped against a tree.

Sora examined the binding jutsu. Tight ropes of what appeared to be some sort of chakra infused gas held her to the tree. It was indeed rather high level, although, not enough to hold an experienced Jonin level ninja. She wondered why they had been careless. Had they not assumed that her Chakra would restore itself this fast? As silently as she could, she flooded her own freezing chakra into the ropes. The spell fought back, but her own chakra was slowly winning the battle. Ice inched up the rope from where it was touching her until the gas was completely frozen into pretty miniature droplets. Still though, the bindings would not break. Taking a risk, she sent a shock of chakra through the ropes and they shattered with a small noise. She held her breath, ears pricked at attention to detect any disrupted breathing, but she found none. She set out a small breath of relief.

Sora stood up slowly, stretching out her muscles. Her injuries still hurt, but she found that they had been properly cared for and bandaged. Suddenly, she frozen. _Something was wrong._ Why happened they posted a guard? Even if they were an arrogant bunch, they would not be stupid enough to set camp in the middle of a forest like this and not set a guard. She heard a noise. The silver-haired ninja was up and smirking at her through his mask.

"You're not the only who can fake their breathing." He stated. When she only stared warily at him, he added, "You really think we didn't notice you were awake all this time? Kurenai can detect differences in chakra."

Sora looked over at the other ninjas. They too, were suddenly in motion. When she turned to fight or run, or do anything of the sort, the Sliver-haired ninja was in front of her in a flash.

"You tricked me." Sora stated, her voice deadpan, realizing that the hint about the binding jutsu was a set-up. "Why? What's the point?"

"We knew you would try to escape, and we knew that you would probably continue to pretend you were asleep no matter what we did until you could devise a plan, so we gave you a chance before you could come up with a real plan." The dark-haired ninja answered.

"What, may I ask, do you want from me? You didn't kill me when you have the chance to, and I have done your village no wrong." Sora tensed her muscles, ready to react to the response.

The dark-haired man sighed. "You see err, Sora, was it? We were instructed to capture and bring you back to our village. Don't worry, no harm with come upon you."

Sora let her muscles relax and dropped out of her stance. Seeing her captors visibly loosen up, she burst into action, dashing madly for the opening they had left her. She focused her chakra into the soles of her feet, both to speed her up and to leave a trail of ice behind her.

The ice hadn't hindered the ninjas as she had hoped. Simply taking to the trees, they were faster than Sora expected. Stomping her foot into the ground after making hand signs, she called forth a giant wall of ice. Hearing the sounds of explosions and the roar of flames, she knew that the makeshift defence would not last long. She ducked her head down and focused on running. It wasn't long before she realized that she wasn't as well recovered as she had first thought. She could feel the muffled, buzzing feeling around the edges of her mind that came with chakra drain after only a simple technique. Soon her vision started to blur. Her side was on fire and wounds probably reopened once again. The initial burst of energy quickly drained out of her and soon she was leaning up against the tree trunks, propelling herself from one tree to the next. "_This is not good_." She thought helplessly. If she kept this up, she was going to get caught again and her efforts would be for nothing.

She heard a loud crack and her heart sank, knowing that her ice wall had been shattered. The next thing she knew, she heard footsteps surround her. There was a flash of silver and black and the sight of a piercing Sharingan filled her blurred vision as she succumbed to the buzzing that filled her mind.

When she next woke up, her captors made it very obvious they were observing her intently and there was no need to pretend. Her eyes flew open and she was met with the sight of the three ninjas. She once again had her back to the tree, but this time there was no jutsu or spell to bind her, only two Shinobi and one Kunochi hovering intently around her. It hadn't been very long, Sora decided, since she had passed out. Beat up, tired and on edge, she was in no shape to attempt another escape. The red eyed girl stared at her inquiringly, then sighed.

"What you need is a nice bath and some food." Her voice was insistent but kind. "Then we can talk."

She ushered Sora to her feet and pointed in the direction of what looked to be some sort of civilization. "You're in luck. There's natural hot spring nearby and someone has set up a bath house. It's perfect for chakra drainage and sore muscles." Sora blinked, not sure how to respond. Why was she talking to her as if they were friends? One minute the girl was firing genjutsu at her, the next she was offering to take her to a hot spring.

As Sora started to walk, with some trouble, to the bath house, the three ninjas gave her the space that she was so desperately grateful for, but left no room for escape, not that she was in any shape to.

"_For a bath house in the forest,_" Sora thought, eyeing the half a dozen or so costumers loitering in the lobby with suspicion when they arrived. More than half of them were ninjas. "_This place has pretty good business."_

The dark-haired man, whom she'd learned was called Asuma, was making idle chitchat with the middle-aged man at the front desk, or so it seemed, although Sora recognised cleverly disguised information gathering when she heard it. When he reached out to pay, Sora held out her hand, gesturing to him to wait.

"I can pay for myself thanks." She pulled out a few bills from her pouch and tossed them onto the counter. When Asuma blinked and gave her a strange look, she merely squared her jaw and stared back at him steadily with a look of defiance. She was their prisoner, sure, but that didn't mean she was helpless and incapable of paying for herself. If they thought they could take away her independence just by capturing her, they were dead wrong.

Naturally, Asuma and the other, silver-haired boy, whose name was Kakashi, headed for the men's bath, but Kurenai stood glued to Sora's side the entire time, even when they reached the hot spring. It would be a good opportunity to attempt escape, but she really would like to take a bath to get all the dried blood off and besides, she had no desire to escape dressing in nothing but a towel.

Stepping into the water, Sora resisted the urge to sigh contently as a soothing warmth spread up her legs. Wincing slightly, she submerged herself completely, wounds and all. Despite the busyness out in the lobby, she and Kurenai were alone in the hot spring. Relaxing a bit, she sank down and began washing out the dirt and grime.

"Here you go." The waitress placed a bowl of rice in front of Sora with a cheerful, and rather fake smile. The waves of barely concealed hostility were flying off of her as she served them. Sora's eyes flew across her in search of a hidden weapon, but found on signs of one. The hostility didn't seemed to be directed at her, but still…

While the rest of the ninjas dug into the rather lavish dinner, Sora only observed the food below her with a slight frown on her face. "Go ahead, you must be hungry." Asuma coaxed her, but she just stared blankly at him. She heard a scoff and her gaze immediately snapped to Kakashi.

"It's not poisoned. We're eating it too, if you haven't noticed." His voice was matter-of-fact and cold, but his gaze was steady and placid. "And why would we want to poison you if we went through all this trouble to catch you?"

Sora pushed down a flush of embarrassment that she hadn't thought of that before. Still, they weren't the only people she was cautious of. "It's not you I'm worried about." She muttered, her voice low.

"You mean the waitress, right? She's harmless. She's always like that." Asuma's lips drew up in a crooked smile.

"You can never be too careful." Sora murmured, then listened more closely to what he said. "You've been here before?"

"We go through this forest a lot for missions, so it's kind of become a trademark rest stop for the Jonin in our village." Kurenai replied for Asuma. "Half the time this place has more leaf ninja then normal customers."

Sora nodded and almost pulled her lips up into a smile, but stopped herself. Here she was, conversing with them as they were friends. They held her captive, but they talked to her as if she was an escort. There was something about them that made her wonder if she was even wanted for something at all. She didn't have much experience with leaf ninjas, but she did know that no ninja was this friendly to a rogue who did there village any wrong.

The sound of someone's feet hitting the floor and creaking floorboards snapped Sora from her sleep. It was Kurenai. From the looks of it, she was simply getting up to go to the washroom, but Sora had never liked the idea of being asleep when someone else was awake. Despite the fact that it would be completely illogical for them to harm her now of all times, force of habit still made her wake up instinctively at every little sound. The result was, of course, horrible sleep quality, but she was used to it.

At first, Sora was more than surprised when they let her sleep without any form of binding jutsu tying her to the bed or something, but then she found the layer of chakra covering the windows and the seals around the door that was most likely only reactant to her. They weren't meant to hold her, but whichever ninja had cast them would instantly notice a disturbance if she tried to escape. The awkward thing was though, she couldn't even go to the washroom if she didn't want all three of them chasing after her in their sleep clothes.

Pulling back the blinds, the dawning sun told her that it wasn't as early as she had thought. In the distance she could hear Kurenai's soft footsteps returning. She walked into the room looking sleepy, her dark hair disarrayed and knotty. "Oh, you're awake. Good morning. We're leaving pretty early so it might be a good idea to get ready."

"Okay, but can you release the seals around the door so I can get out?" Sora said, slipping on her clothes.

"Oh, right, of course." For a moment, Kurenai almost looked sheepish. "I'll tell Kakashi to release them."

Sora waited patiently on her bed as Kurenai jumped to her feet and took off in the direction of the other room. A good minute or two later, the seals crumbled away and she was free to go.

Walking out the door, savoring the freedom, Sora saw Kurenai gesture for her to follow. Picking up her pace to catch up to them, she walked down the stairs and back to the commons room where guests were already trickling in and starting to have breakfast.

"Good morning." Asuma greeted pleasantly. Sora mumbled a greeting back. Kakashi simply gave her a lazy nod then preceded to pour himself a cup of tea_. 'Not a morning person?' _Sora thought to herself. Kakashi was the only one who was treating her the way he was supposed to be; he just seemed unfriendly because it was a constant contrast between him and the cheerful personalities of Asuma and Kurenai.

After breakfast and some more idle talk, they paid for the food and took off.

"I hope you got a good night's sleep Sora, because we're planning on reaching Konohagakure by noon."

***Kunochi = Female Ninja**

**Shinobi = Male Ninja**

**Author's note: Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Kakashi's really cold and serious in this chapter. I was trying to portray his personality as a young teenager with Obito's influence starting to mix in, but if he's getting to OOC just let me know! Thanks for reading and as always, let me know what I can do to make the story better!**


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